Much is being made of the fact that soil moisture deficits are beginning to bite once again, particularly in the east of the country. The fact remains that many parts of the west and southwest are very thankful to get a spell of weather like we have at the moment.

The 2018 drought is not that distant in the memory of many farmers in the east. If we go back further, it was the opposite in 2009 and 2012/3 when we had a wet period, which again reduced winter feed growth and increased the requirement for feed, especially in the west of the country.

The similarity with what some farmers in the east are now experiencing is that it is a sort of double whammy. Last summer was very dry for some in the east.

This year, a very wet March and early April reduced the amount of artificial fertiliser spread and grazing completed. From mid-May many farmers in the east have had very little, if any rain. The impact on grass growth rates is now going to eat into winter feed. More feeding out will be required shortly and we’ll probably have a reduced second cut yield.

Those farms in the east on dry soils may already be hurting, however, the dry is the lesser of the two evils. Most farms would take the dry over the wet any year. So what does all this say about Irish livestock feed systems?

Grazing systems

Are our grazing systems robust enough? Are farmers still over reliant on artificial fertilisers? Can farmers not feed the recently increased dairy herd?

If you were in any other mainland European country, the fact of the matter is you would have fed out over 90% of what animals have eaten this year in a total mixed ration. Very little grazing happens before May.

Right now, animals might only be getting outdoors to lie down in grass. So to put Irish grazing in context, in reality our grazing systems are in a different league, a much better league.

While we are only in June, the fact of the matter is cows on Irish farms have already had three to four months more grazing than animals in most other European livestock countries.

As Prof Jim McAdam points out we need to produce more homegrown feed, not less.

However, let’s not fool ourselves. Some Irish farms are overstocked for what animals they have on the farm relative to what grass/feed the farm can grow.

More farmers underestimate the reserve of feed required for winter and for times like this. More farmers simply reduce bag fertiliser, but good clover is not established to compensate for the reduced bag fertiliser, and hence growth crashes.

Many farmers have improved soil fertility for grazing, but neglect the out farms (poor grasses and poor soil fertility) that mainly deliver the winter feed. More carry too many unproductive stock or manage grass badly.

Feed reserve

A reserve of feed is paramount, no matter where in the world you are if you have animals. Go to Wisconsin and they will have two years of conserved fodder in a pit. If they get a dry or wet spell, having two years of feed outside the door fills the gap when there is a weather event.

Farmers in China are currently buying cattle feed from the South Island of New Zealand because they can’t grow it. Egyptian and Saudi Arabian farmers are buying feed from Canada and North America.

Many Irish farmers can grow it, but decide not to make silage. Why? Mainly because it is a significant cost and they think the winter requirement is less and less as cows are out grazing once they calve.

This is partly true. However, the reality is that many farms tight on feed now or for next winter just don’t have a big enough feed reserve. Many also don’t have enough clover established to reduce artificial nitrogen significantly and hence quantity and quality of grazing and winter feed suffers.

If three or four dry or wet weeks cause a problem, then our feed systems are not resilient enough and a change is needed. For many this can be solved on farm. Do a stock take on reserves and stock numbers now, not in September.

As an industry we need better and more accurate information on feed and fertiliser stocks and usage. We have stumbled and stuttered on this in the past. We need definitive databases that are up-to-date and accurate at a minimum.

The Department of Agriculture and Teagasc are key to this. Farmers in the west have saved the farmers in the east in the past, but with the direction of policy, this may not always be possible.